How to Endure in Tough Times
“For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.” (Hebrews 10:36)
In Hebrews 12, we are given a vivid picture of the Christian life. The writer takes us to a great stadium with a long race track, and he invites us to imagine ourselves as runners on the track, enduring a long and grueling race. The sun is hot above us, our legs are feeling the strain; our chest is tight with exertion. Jesus is at the finish line, and we still have some distance to cover in the marathon. This is one of the Bible’s key passages on how to understand and respond to trials and testing. The writer takes us into the deep waters of opposition and shows us how to endure—even to flourish—in the face of pain and suffering.
The writer calls us to “run with endurance the race that is set before us” (v. 1). But how do we endure the trials of life? Hebrews 12:1-2 offers three principles to endure in faith: 1) listen; 2) lay aside; and 3) look. First, we need to listen to the witnesses that have gone before. As verse 1 explains, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses...” The “witnesses” mentioned here refer to all the people listed in chapter 11--their stories and testimonies which are key for us if we are going to keep enduring. The idea of a “witness” here is not so much that of saints who are watching us from heaven and cheering us on in our race. Instead, the idea is that of saints who bear testimony or “witness” to a truth that we should grasp--namely, the truth of God’s unrelenting faithfulness and goodness in dark days.
The main corridor of the centre block of the Parliament of Canada is lined with portraits of former Prime Ministers. In challenging days, it could benefit a sitting Prime Minister to walk down this corridor and take inspiration, courage, and wisdom from the stories of leaders like Sir Robert Borden, who led the nation through the First World War. Similarly, when crisis strikes in the life of the follower of Christ, it is helpful to “walk through” the great gallery of believers in Hebrews 11--believers who lived the life of faith in the face of potentially crushing obstacles. These believers “...were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated – of whom the world was not worthy” (Heb. 11:37) A careful study of the witness of these saints reveals God’s glorious character and bolsters endurance along the way.
Second, if we are to run the race of faith to the end, we must lay aside “every weight, and sin which clings so closely.” (verse 1). The Christian life is a marathon, not a sprint. We are called to go the distance, and so it is important to travel light. If one sets off on a hiking trip in the mountains, one counts every ounce that goes into the knapsack. Similarly, the saints of old in chapter 11 had to make some hard decisions. Abraham had to let go his hold on his parents’ homeland. Moses had to set aside the treasures of Egypt and the privileges of the royal household. We too must abandon things that might not be evil in themselves (e.g. career ambitions, attachments, treasures) that slow us down in our walk with the Lord. We must also make sure that, as we run our race, our legs and ankles aren’t getting tangled in the weeds and the brush (i.e. the “sin”) at the side of the track. We need to actively, prayerfully, and energetically cut down the weeds of sin that are lining our track of faith.
Third, we need to look to Jesus, “the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” (v. 2) In a great race, every runner who means to finish looks ahead to the goal. And in our race, Jesus is our all-in-all. He is the coach who put us on the track; He is the pacesetter for the race; He is the forerunner who has reached the finish line before us; He is the enabler who strengthens us to run – and He is Himself the goal of our race. As we look to Christ, we do more than simply imagine His face. We actively study His Word, we passionately pray and worship with His followers, and we wholeheartedly follow His lead in our lives. And, perhaps sweetest of all, we set the gaze of our heart upon the future that we will enjoy with Him when we will gather in His presence and delight in His goodness. Notice that Jesus Himself, in the deepest of His trials—at the cross itself—“despised the shame” precisely by looking to the joy that was set before Him. He endured by looking forward to His return to His heavenly home, and being with the Father. He looked forward to that joyful day, and the prospect of it kept Him going.
In closing, Helen Lemmel penned these famous lines about looking to Jesus: “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in his wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of his glory and grace.” There is a sense in which, for all of us, the things of earth have grown a little less bright – a little more dim – in recent, pandemic days. We can’t see and experience all the things of this world as we normally would. But as we grapple with the dimness of this present world, we need to fix our eyes on the Lord Jesus and see the brightness of his glory and grace. That’s what gives us hope, joy and spiritual energy for persevering in faith in turbulent days.